Te Reo Māori Journey
It’s Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori! What a journey it can be for Māori + Non- Māori to learn this beautiful language. We could have given you some salty word translations but we’re actually not reo Māori language experts ourselves. So rather, this year we thought we’d share some language journeys in hopes that you may resonate with or be inspired to start or continue your own.
We’ll start with our founder, Renee!
Renee Taylor - Salt Aotearoa Founder
Kia ora e te whānau!
I whakapapa to Tauranga moana, ko Ngāti Hangarau te hapū. My name is Renee Taylor and I’m a freedive instructor & Founder of Salt Aotearoa.
To me, te reo Māori is more than “just” a language and learning words. It represents an entire culture and people and can be incredibly triggering when reclaiming, reconnecting, and relearning in that space, but is equally just so beautiful and I feel so lucky to be part of it.
The journey isn’t linear and many times when im just starting to feel a bit more confident enough, suddenly ill feel extreme nerves and unworthiness and retract back many steps, only to pull myself back up and start again. Often to moana is where I can re calibrate those feelings, where I feel most indigenous without judgment💙
Sometimes our worst critics is ourselves and our own people, that’s when it hurts the most. So what I’d say to anyone who's just starting to think about it or getting the courage to try, it’s going to be hard at times but it’s so worth it in the long run. Even when others try to judge or bring you down, we get back up. And even if you don’t know who your tupuna/ ancestors are, they know you, and are your biggest supporters. Listen and look for their tohu/signs. Ake ake ake.
Michele - Salt Aotearoa Freediving Wāhine
No hea au?
He uri ahau no Waikato Tainui, Ngati Paoa, Ngati Whatua ki Kaipara
My Daughters are the first generation since colonisation to be brought up with their reo, they have both been enjoyed a Māori education and kura and their connection to their culture and their reo feels like my purpose in this life. I fought to open the bilingual unit at their kura years ago and now Eva is about to start her full immersion haerenga at College next year. I myself have been learning te reo for over 7 years now. There has been many internal battles I have had to fight with taking soo long for things to click but I know thats all part of the intergenerational healing our generation are doing. In a dream world we could give up our full time mahi fir a year and all immerse ourselves together!
My best advice is to find a partner that speak te reo or get a house mate and give them free rent in exchange for only korero i te reo Māori 😂🤓
Miro - Salt Aotearoa Freediving Wāhine
Ko Miro Harré tōku ingoa, he mokopuna tēnei nō Ngāti Maniapoto, nō Ngāti Porou.
I tupu ake ahau i raro i te korowai o Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa, i te taha uru o Tāmaki Makaurau.
Te reo Māori is something that came to me in my early adulthood and over the last 10 years has blossomed within every one of my senses, filling them with the sounds, the thinking, the rhythms that connect me to my tūpuna.
Although I was raised with a beautiful and privileged perspective on the world, te reo Māori has only expanded the potential of how one (me 🥰) can explore people, planet and the universe.
My advice to those wishing to embark on this journey: Totally release your every sense to the journey and, kia ū ki te kaupapa (throw yourself into every opportunity to be immersed in te ao Māori)! ❤️🤍🖤
Patukino - Salt Aotearoa Freediving
Kia ora,
I’m Patukino Williams, he uri au nō Te Whanau a Tauwhao ki Tuhua, Ngāi Tukairangi me Tauranga Moana whānui. I’m a commercial diver and someone who never wants to be the same as yesterday!
to me, Te reo Māori is not only a language, it is beauty, it is tranquil , it is whakapapa. For us as Māori to hear our language being woven in the air like like a weaver with her Harakeke brings a sense of home no matter where u are in the world.
For anyone wanting to begin their te reo Māori journey, do it, don’t wait till tomorrow. The best time to plant a tree was five years ago so plant that tree today. It can be as simple as using Kia ora instead of hi. Mōrena instead of good morning. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes in your reo, for someone will help and teach you the correct thing. Surround yourself with people who speak te reo if you are able to, if not, sign up to a te reo Māori course can start growing!
Don’t be afraid to start is all i can say. As Rawiri Waititi once said something along these lines “ u may not know your Maunga, but it knows you. You may not know your awa, but it knows you. You may not know your Marae, It knows you! You may not know your language but it knows you” you just have to water the seed inside yourself Māori or non Māori.
Manawatia te iwi Māori
Be proud to be Māori whanau, chur!
Brooke - Salt Aotearoa Freediving Wāhine
Tēnā koutou Salt Baes 🌊🌀
Ko Brooke tōku ingoa. He uri au nō Ngāti Whātua. E noho ana au kei Tauranga.
He tākuta/doctor ahau.
He part time wanna-be diver ahau 🤣
He maha ngā tau e mokemoke ana ahau ki taku reo, te reo o ōku tūpuna, mai i te wā tekau ma ono ōku tau. Kei te whakatinana ahau i ōku moemoea ki te ako i te reo Māori. E kī ana tōku ngakau. Ka mahi ahau mo āku tūroro Māori, mō āku tamariki a muri ake nei, ā, hei oranga mō ngāi Māori.
I quit my job as a doctor at Tauranga Hospital to pursue Te Tohu Paetahi, a full immersion te reo Māori diploma at Waikato University. If you too are yearning to reclaim your reo, my advice is simple—just go for it! Dive in, and don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember, it took over 200 years to suppress our language, so reclaiming it takes time. This year has been the best of my life, healing my wairua in ways I didn’t know I needed. I don't want to return to being a doctor—I want to immerse myself in te reo Māori forever lol 🤪
Kei wareware koe, e kore te reo maori e wareware i a koe.
- Remember, te reo Māori will never forget you.
Ki te kōrerotia te reo, ka rongo o tātou tupuna.
- If you speak the reo, our ancestors will hear you 🤍
Translation of te reo part:
I have yearned for my reo, for the reo of my tupuna for many years, since I was 16 years old. I am living my dreams studying te reo māori. My heart is full. I do this for my Māori patients, my future tamariki & for the wellbeing of all Māori 🤍